It is amazing how the social web works in making significant connections. A few days ago, I was having a conversation with a client about a situation that happened at their place of business and the importance of helping make people feel significant.
Is Anybody Home?
I was at my clients place of business and noticed a potential new client walk in. Not a single team member acknowledged this person. The woman just stood at the front desk, patiently, grabbed some literature, and just kept waiting. Finally, I excused myself from what I was doing to say hello to this potential new client and answer any questions she had. She was so happy that someone finally noticed she was there.
Have you ever walked into a place of business and not been noticed? Nobody looks up or even says hello? How did it feel? It sucks. And we have all been there.
So after I left, I jumped on the phone with my client to explain what had happened and we discussed how we could educate and inspire the team to understand the importance of helping everyone who walks through their door feel significant.
Discovering Angela Maiers
Only a few hours after that call, I came across the nicest post on the Passion Squared Facebook page from a beautiful woman named Angela Maiers. She expressed how much she loved the page, that is was “Passion Embodied.” Well of course, I was thrilled to see feedback such as that, and immediately Googled Angela. My jaw dropped to the floor. I could not believe this incredible woman took the time to notice Passion Squared, then cared enough to share her thoughts on my page. It was like she had been with me earlier in the day and heard the conversation I had with my client. Nothing in my world is a coincidence. This was just another confirmation of that.
Please take some time to experience Angela’s TEDx Talk about the importance of the You Matter message. It is very powerful and a must see for anyone who works with people. So that means all of us.
You see, it does not matter whether you are sharing the message of significance to a group of young people in school or you are acknowledging a client or potential new client as they walk through your door. The message is the same. We all want to feel significant. Something to think about both online and off. Are you listening? Are you paying attention? Do you care?
Angela is the author of The Passion Driven Classroom, a book all about ways to cultivate a thriving and passionate community of learners in the classroom and is a key thought leader in business and education. To learn more about Angela Maiers and her company Maiers Educational Services, click here. You can also follow her on Twitter @AngelaMaiers
A big shout out of thanks to Angela for inspiring me, this post, and for taking the time to engage with my Facebook page. It means the world to me. You matter.
“Be human. • Be aware. • Be honest. • Be respectful. • Be a participant. • Be open. • Be courageous.”
Brian Solis
By now, most businesses have some type of Facebook presence, but there is still a long way to go to be able to turn that presence into a tool to engage, build meaningful relationships and deliver value to your community.
Think of it this way: If a human walked into your place of business, would you say hello? Would you answer their questions? Would you say thank you when they gave you a shout out? Of course, the answer is yes. Guess what? That is exactly how we want to engage with humans on Facebook.
Engagement on Facebook is measured by the amount of Likes, Comments, Shares, RSVP’s to an event or Answers a Question you posted as a poll. You can see this “measurement” right next to your Likes number, it’s called “Talking About This.”
Here are 5 Steps To Increase Engagement 1. Post Consistently
The more consistently you post, the more likely you will show up in the News Feed and the more likely people will engage. Consistently means at least one post per day. Remember, you can plan your posts and schedule them, click here to see our post on how to schedule a Facebook post.
2. Post and Share Relevant Content Now I know what you are saying, what exactly does relevant mean? Well, you know your community better than anyone. And you know your brand, your story and your goals. If you are not sure, engage your team, think about your focus in your salon or business, and come up with some ideas around those focuses such as before and after images, team shout outs, inspiration, new products and services, etc. To learn more about content creation and curation, click here to view our webinar.
3. Respond to Comments, Messages and Posts to your Wall This is a biggie. Like I said in the beginning, if a human walked into your business, would you acknowledge them? Of course you would. Facebook is no different. Your community wants to know you are listening and you care. One way to show this is by being an active participant on your own page. Think about it. Click here to read our post on the importance of social customer care.
4. Make Use of Tabs for Online Booking and Events There are so many free tabs available to use on Facebook. And while many of them are not viewed as often your actual Timeline, they are there for a reason. Consider offering online booking, and be sure the platform you choose offers a Tab that you can easily install on Facebook. This way, your clients and potential future clients can make an appointment right on Facebook. Convenience at its finest and for sure a must do for the connected customer. We love Schedulicity for online booking, they offer all that and so much more. Click here to learn more and sign up. They have graciously given us a special offer we get to pass on to our community, a FREE 60 day trial. How awesome is that?
And remember, if you are having an Event such as a Grand Opening, a Product Launch, a Fundraiser, etc to make use of the Events tab. We have found it to be one of our most engaging Tabs.
5. Ask Your Community to Click on Get Notifications and Show In News Feed Many of us have heard about Facebook messing with what shows up in the News Feed. And yes, its true. Each social platform has a formula they use for search and discovery. So its our job to figure out how to “be seen” in spite of the formula so to speak. Now what we know for sure is if you do the four steps above, you will for sure be seen more often in the News Feed. However, there is a simple way to ensure your community sees your posts more often and gets notified when you post to your page. Click here to see our simple step-by-step on how to make that happen.
Where Am I Going To Find The Time?
So there you have it, 5 simple things you can do to increase engagement. So now I know what you are thinking; where am I going to find the time to do all this?
Here is my answer. Make time. Social business is our new reality, we can no longer choose not to engage. Well, actually, we can, but I would not recommend it. In order to grow, to become a more discoverable business, its time to re-think how we spend our time and what activities we are spending it on.
Make a commitment to spend 30 minutes a day on your social pages. That is it. And if you have to, wake up a half hour earlier. Schedule yourself in the salon. Do whatever you have to do. If you want it bad enough and it’s important to you, you will find the time. You always do.
One-On-One Mentoring
If you want to learn more about engaging in the social space and creating a plan for your business, I offer one-on-one mentoring to help you craft the ultimate plan. Click here to reach out and we will decide together if this is the right program for you. I look forward to connecting with you and helping you realize your dreams.
“Brands are either part of the conversation or they’re not and as a result, they’re either part of the decision-making cycle or they’re absent from the heart, mind, and actions of the connected customer.”
Brian Solis, author of Engage and The End of Business As Usual
As many of you know, I spend a ridiculous amount of time on the web. I have a healthy obsession with engaging and listening because I care about you and want to help you and your business.
Recently, I have seen a lot of chatter on Facebook about the ROI (return on investment) of engaging on the social web, and how it really is just a big waste of time. What that tells me is there is still a BIG misunderstanding of these platforms and how important they are to the future of business, both big and small.
Engage.
These online platforms are no different than our offline platforms (i.e. the salon) when it comes to business. They are designed to allow us to engage with current and future customers in a meaningful way. To listen, to have two-way conversations, to solve problems, to build relationships, to create and deliver value. How in the world can someone not see the ROI in that? SMH.
Listen.
I overheard a conversation a while back from a business saying “If we have a business Facebook page, then customers will want to talk to us and ask us questions, and that is a lot of work.” My response was simple: What could possibly be more important than engaging with and listening to your customers? How awesome is it that they care enough to engage with your business and buy something from you? Think about it.
Care.
I love this infographic that illustrates the trend of the connected customer when it comes to expecting customer care via social platforms. By 2014, refusing to communicate with customers via social channels will be as harmful as ignoring phone calls and emails. WOW. Take a moment and let that sink in.
(infographic discovered on Google courtesy of Bluewolf)
Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics said it best…”The ROI of social media is that your business will still be around in 5 years.” I could not have said it any better.
So remember. Engage. Listen. Care. Three simple yet powerful words to remember, both online and off.
If you ever have any questions for me regarding my blog posts, feel free to post questions to Facebook or email me by clicking here. I will always respond, both online and off. Because I care.
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Søren Kierkegaard
As this amazing year comes to a close, we took a moment to look back at what made your heart sing.
Not surprisingly, you loved posts about our hair heroes such as Vidal and Ann Bray, and our profile on the incredibly talented family of hairdressers, and our friends The Teals. Our plea to “just do it” in our post What Are You Waiting For stuck a cord with you, as did our super easy social + digital cheat sheets and stories. These were your favorite blog posts of 2012.
It has been an awesome year creating and sharing our passion with you, thank you for being here with us and taking the time to engage with our form of art. It matters. You matter.
(shared with LOVE + GRATITUDE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
“We’re living in an era where word-of-mouth is on steroids. People aren’t just talking to their neighbors and the folks they run into around town; they’re talking to the world via social media.”
Gary Vaynerchuk
I have seen so much lately on the web about small businesses being mad at YELP. Rants on Facebook and other pages, and quite frankly, many of them are just small business owners who do not understand how YELP or social review and referral platforms work.
Is YELP perfect? NO! Is any social platform perfect? NO. But these platforms can be used for good, and my suggestion is to learn more about them, and to realize they are here to stay, whether you “like” them or not.
So here is my attempt to clear up any misunderstandings and hopefully inspire you to take the energy you are using to hate on YELP and turn it towards understanding YELP and how it can empower and gorw your business.
The Facts
1. YELP has more than 15 million reviews and over 40 million visits to its site every month.
2. Five star reviews lead in terms of percentage of reviews given.
3. YELP uses a formula called an “algorithm” to catch fake reviews or pages that get several reviews in a short period of time from new YELPERS, and filters them in an attempt to keep the site as authentic as possible.
4. Most frequent YELPERS know about filtered reviews and check them out.
5. YELP is one of the number one new traffic drivers to small business, both online and offline.
6. You DO NOT need to advertise on YELP to make it work for you, just like Google or Facebook, you have the choice of PAID discovery and/or ORGANIC discovery.
Here is a graphic that shows the average number of reviews by star. My friends Pilates Studio in Los Angeles, Whole Body Method, who I have the pleasure to work with has received over 1500 visits to their website this year alone directly from YELP.
Over 60% of those visits were first time visits.
They stayed on the website over 2 minutes and viewed 2.5 pages, more than any other social or digital referral visit.
Many of those visits have turned into new clients, as in hundreds of new clients.
In fact, besides existing client referrals and traditional word of mouth, YELP is their number one referral tool.
One of the keys to this is they also offer online booking and the ability to purchase packages online.
Their business is up over 50% from last year. While there are several factors that made this happen, their choice to embrace the social + digital web is a significant part of their success.
My tattoo shop here in LA, Velvet Grip Family, attributes over 90% of new client traffic to YELP. How do they know? It’s the first question they ask when you walk in. “How did you hear about us?” Nine times out of ten the answer is YELP.
So here’s the deal. You can choose to NOT do business with YELP, whatever that means. But you must understand your business will remain on YELP, Citysearch, Google Places and all over the Internet. That is the reality of social business, and it’s not going away.
So you have a choice, bury your head in the sand, or take advantage of these powerful platforms, begin paying attention to what people are saying about your business on the web, and use them to grow. Your choice.
If you want to learn more about YELP and the other social referral platforms on the web, click here to see if our one-on-one mentoring program is right for you. You can also visit our YouTube channel PassionSquaredTV to view a webinar on YELP we did several months ago.
(infographic discovered on Google courtesy of Bluewolf)
My friends Pilates Studio in Los Angeles, Whole Body Method, who I have the pleasure to work with has received over 1500 visits to their website this year alone directly from YELP.